Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

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deccard
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by deccard »

i have my eyes on the new tk bc mastering edition. ssl style with transformer balanced output and switchable. i really like the cytomic glue plug so thats my aim. but i want also some transformers in my setup. thats still missing. expressor might not be the best addition. a-design nail is also a contender but different approach and less punch what i read so far. but i also grave for a opto comp for as addition. also i want an external stereo eq. :) damn gearlust.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by optX »

yes, gearlust and tattoos can be bastards.. 8)
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by Dal-Tech »

I think the most important thing is a good analog to digtal converter if you are using hardware. That way your hardware sill sound nice when you record it into your computer.

To my ears hardware such as an analog synth has a more rounded off sound to it. Even hardware sequencer for some reason tend to have a better flow. Digital tends to be to MIDI File or linear, precise. It doesn't have the funk to it. You can usually tell going to beatport or one of those sites tracks that are just generic software.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by Dal-Tech »

I'm surprised since so much music just sounds like software why instead of create a digital audio file and having mastered software companies like Abelton just don't have a player where a song file is loaded from a cloud service and the software is played back in a club. There's an idea.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by steevio »

nakoradiomies wrote:this may go bit off topic, but some one told me that "analogue mastering suits well when music is made inside computer with software synths and fx, but for full on hardware made music it may not add anything good to the sound"
i think there is some truth in this, well at least as far as i'm concerned. the sound coming out of my hardware sounds just exactly how i want it to sound, it doesnt need mastering, but a lot of that is down to my obsession with things sounding right from the start.
but its also a generalisation, every track, and every producer is different, and i'm sure there are plenty of hardware producers who swear by analogue mastering as part of their process.
one thing i will never accept though, is putting my carefully prepared analogue sounds through software mastering, thats never going to happen.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by Dal-Tech »

One thing I hate and maybe it's because I'm from the old school is loud masterings where everything is brightened up (ear candied) with EQ. It's a vey immature and dumbed down type of sound. I hate it when classic tracks are re-mastered to sound that way too.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by MagpieIndustries »

compare a real computer keyboard to the software emulation on an ipad or a phone. end of discussion.
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Re: Comparison Hardware vs. Software Emulation

Post by optX »

MagpieIndustries wrote:compare a real computer keyboard to the software emulation on an ipad or a phone. end of discussion.
Yes, but it isn`t a very good comparisson. You can control plugins with real world controllers ...

anyway, just read what Greg from Kush Audio is saying about this topic :

"Tonight someone asked me how much of a difference I think there is between hardware and plugins given the advances in plugins we've seen in the past year.

I told him that I think plugins are amazing because of what they enable regular everyday artists and musos and working engineers to achieve without laying out a half mil on cumbersome racks full of energy-sucking gear. My own musical endeavors would not be possible without plugins, and I think that's true for the vast majority of those of us who self-record or work with real-world budgets.

But in terms of raw sonics --- which is one of my two true passions (the other being user interfaces) --- I think the metal boxes have an unmistakeable and, for me, immensely satisfying tone and transient impact that the digital code, for reasons I do not fully understand, still lacks. Many gifted people are working full time on narrowing the gap; only time will tell if it's a gap that ever truly be close...d.

In the meantime, Kush will keep making both hardware and software because at the end of the day they're all just tools; everyone's real focus here should always be music, and the weapons we choose in the war to make art should serve the process, not the other way around. Rules and dogma should be viewed with extreme suspicion; use whatever works, and get on with it.

-ubk"
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